chickering



-by declarethat the following is a full', clear, and exact description of the-same, reference z with the top of the case removed, showing spending parts in the several figures. One reason of thesuperiority of the grand vthe port'ionof the bottom. of` its case below lthe strings and sound-board almost entirely vopen, or composed only of a series of bars,

.meut of the wrest-plnnk and other portions 'correspond in'l'orm and coincide in'f position strings and setuid-board obtained asfin the- UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

' `C. F. CHICKERING, OF NEW VvYORK, N. Y.

' iM'PRovEM'EnTiN ,SQ

Specification [mailing part of Leiters Patent No'. 32. |19, dated April 23, 196i.

.TU LZZ whom/t may concern: Bei .it known that I, C. F. CnicKEnrNG, of the city, county, and VStat'eof New York, have invented a new' and useful Improve: ment ini 'Square Piano-Fortes; and I do herebeing -hadv to the accompanying drawings forming parte( this specification, inwhich- Figure l is-a plan of asquare piano-forte the string-traine and wrestplank, but omittingt-he str-ings and action. Fig. 2 is a plan lofthe'interior of the case without anyof the internalfparts. Fig. 3 is a transverse section-corresponding withFig. 1. U

Similar letters of reference indicate corretwcrqtlie lsquare piano vforte as heretofore constructed,l is owing to -the former'havin which permits a'lrcedom ot" vibration of the strings not otherwise to be obtained. The great obstacle to the construction of"` the case ofthe square piano-forte with an open or barred bottom et' similar character has been its contracted iiorizontz'tl area andthe proportion of room occupied by the key-board and action, which, with the ordinary arrange,-

ot the -string-frame has rendered it impractiable to have an openin such size as to be of any advantage.

My invention consists'in a certain relative arrangement ofthe .wrestplank and other portions otthestring-fmme,the'soi1ndboard, and an o pcn'or-'inerely barred'portion. of thee bottonrot' the'casc ofthe si'luarepia'no-lbrtc, whereby that 'portion'of thecase is rnade'to with the scale or string -franiej and Ysoundboard, and the 'same free vibration ol' the grand piano-forte is provided for.

To cna-blc others skilled in the art to. make and usevjny invention, I will proceed to describe itwith rcfereuceto the drawings.

My 'arrangement of the wrestplank and g below lthe strings of the bottom ofthe case in a UARE PIANO-FORTES.

portionC Vof the frame, in which the hitch.-v

pins are secured, at the left-hand end of the case, as shown in Fig. 1. .This necessitates the'use of long keysv at the left-hand end, and short keys at the righthand end of the keyboard, as will `be readily'understood, though I have not represented. the keyboard, the long keys for playing the base and the short for-playing the treble. The form of the scale or lstring-frame is not changed further than vthat its .position is-reversed as above menftioned.- The'position of thesoundboard S st'ringis-reversed to. correspond with the frame, butit s form isnot lotherwisechanged.

g; The whole oftheffront andleft-hand end portion E of the bottom of the case extending below the, keys is made solid or close, but from the'back-right-handeorner, nearly to the back left-hand corner and nearly to the frontright-hand corner, and to a curved line, (ta, nearly coinciding with the l1ammer-l line and -inner edge of the wrest`plank. A,-

it is merely composed of a. seriesof strong bars, D D, of wood, intersectingand bracing each other in such a manner as to give as much strength as a solid bottom,v the -spacesG G betweel open. v

Y I do not claim of itself thereverse arrange ment of the wrest-plank and other portions of the strin as herein described,v nor do I clainn'broadly, the construction ofI a square vpiano-forteavith tthe bottom' orlopgerportionbt" the case courposed of bars with openings between them; but \Vl1at I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is;- The combined arrangement 'of the'wrestplank, hitch-plate, brace, and sonnd-board, and of the open or merelybarred portion of square pianoas and for the purposes forte, substantially herein described.

string-frame or scale is precisely the reverse, i

so i'ar as the back and front ot' the case F are i C; F. CIHCKERING. Witnesses:

J. W. Coonns, 1. S. SPENCER.

1 such bars beingv entirely g-frame and of the sound-board, 

